Chapter 7
Dominic
“I sawa news story about you the other day.”
I already have a glass of whiskey in my hand when my dad starts talking. As soon as I saw the call coming through, I made sure my glass was two fingers full before accepting it. As usual, he doesn’t start withhow are you doing?Or evenhow’s the weather?No, not even a simple hello from Enzo Wolfe. He’s never started conversations that way, even when I was a kid, and I doubt he’s going to start now. Hence, the Kentucky bourbon.
“Well, Bad Wolfe Security has been doing well recently, so I’m not surprised,” I say, taking a sip and letting the liquid coat my stomach in a layer of heat.
“It wasn’t about your day job, son,” he says. He’s referring to the Ring, and if I had to guess, it has something to do with the way I left mid-fight earlier this week.
“Spelunking through the gossip of the dark web for sport, Dad? I thought you golfed on the weekends,” I joke, knowing full well he isn’t smiling. The man hasn’t smiled since I was seven. I’d put money on it. It’s just the way he is. It might also have somethingto do with why I am the way I am, but I don’t have enough whiskey in my office to go into that.
“You walked out in the middle of a fight,” he says as if I don’t know.
“How do you know that’s not a rumor?” I ask, as I toss back another sip.
“I hoped it was. But when I saw how many people lost money because of you, well. It’s safe to say disappointment is no stranger in my house.”
Jab one.
I take a third sip. It’s an improvement I’ve made recently. I used to do a shot every time my dad made a passive-aggressive comment in my direction, but I wound up belligerent three minutes into the conversation and decided to cut back.
“Well, you can thank Rafe for that,” I tell him.
“Shaeffer?” he asks as if it comes as a surprise. My dad knows full well that Rafe has been a pain in my ass both in and out of the ring for years. “Haven’t you two come to some kind of an understanding? You work in the same field, for fuck’s sake.”
“Try telling him that. He was trying to pick a fight outside of the ring, so I decided to tap out,” I tell him.
“Sounds about right.”
Jab two. Sip four.
“He’s not worth it. And he was harassing the waitresses,” I say.
“If he’s such a cheap shot, why do you spar with him, Dom? Or better yet, why haven’t you won?”
“I can’t win against a cheat,” I tell him.
“You can if you play by his rules,” he says.
“Okay, let me rephrase that. I won’t sink to his level. His security business has a reputation for playing dirty. He’s done everything from embezzlement to hiring convicts. He’s a snake, both in the rink and out of it. It’s why I can’t let him outbid me for the Golden Rule partnership. That’s one of the biggest investment companies on the planet. I have money in them.Youhave money in them. If a man like Rafe Shaeffer is running their security, nothing good can come of it. We could lose big.”
“You’re being dramatic,” my dad says, not hearing a word I have to say as usual.
“The possibility of losing every penny I have to my name is dramatic to you?” I ask, taking another sip just for good measure. If the conversation keeps going like this, I’m going to have to refill my glass just for good measure.
“You have more money than that,” he says. “Some of it is just inaccessible to you right now.”
I grit my teeth. “So you’re really not willing to bend on the stipulations of releasing my inheritance?” I ask. “Even though the premise of it is practically medieval.”
“Asking that you be married in order to access your inheritance isn’t unreasonable,” he says.
“Dad. I just turned fifty,” I remind him.
“I’m aware. All the more reason you shouldn’t be sleeping in a cold bed,” he says on an exhale, and I can practically smell the cigar through the phone. “Look, son. I’m doing you a favor here. When you opened a security company, I thought you were takinga pretty big risk. But I was impressed when you ended up doing alright for yourself.”
I nearly scoff, but take a slug of whiskey instead. I want to laugh in his face. But I’m still trying to get him to budge on the preconditions of my inheritance, so I decide against it.
